MCG -02-36-011 appeared fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated N-S, 0.6'x0.5' [core region], small bright nucleus. Occasionally extremely faint extensions were seen north and south.

Truman Safford discovered IC 971 = Sf 105 on 20 May 1868 with the 18.5-inch refractor at the Dearborn Observatory. In a note in 1905 "Ein schoner Spiralnebel" ("A Beautiful Spiral Nebula"), Max Wolf described IC 971 as a "rare pure S-shape spiral with a mag 14 core." (AN 168, 75).

600/800mm - 24" (6/15/15): at 260x; moderately bright and large, slightly elongated ~N-S, broad weak concentration. Brightest in a group including IC 4358 4.6' WSW, IC 4634 11' NE and MCG -02-36-011 11.5' SE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb